Melbourne (2008)

The three organizing partners selected a venue on the other side of the world for the fifth conference. They were joined by VicHealth, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation of Melbourne, Australia, which hosted the event on September 10-12, 2008. The theme, “From Margins to Mainstream,” underlined the goal of moving mental health promotion and disorder prevention from the margins of health care policy and practice into a more central position. VicHealth, recognized as an innovator in developing promotion and prevention interventions and pressing for their statewide introduction, organized a conference firmly grounded in the social circumstances that adversely affect mental health. The conference topics were arranged around social participation; freedom from violence; discrimination and the promotion of diversity; and increasing access to economic resources.

The Melbourne Charter

The Fifth World Conference in Melbourne produced an outcome document, The Melbourne Charter for Promoting Mental Health and Preventing Mental and Behavioural Disorders. Noting that charters endorsed by the World Health Organization have played a key role in the global health advocacy movement, but pay little attention to mental health, the organizers decided to produce their own charter with a focus solely on mental health promotion and disorder prevention. This became part of the work of planning of the conference, and input was invited from conference participants. The document that resulted is designed to be a tool for advocacy in the mental health policy field and incorporates attention to social issues, a trademark of the conference.

A printer-friendly black and white version of The Melbourne Charter is available.